Which is the whole point of the confederate flag question in the first place … a flag can symbolize certain things to certain people without these things being adopted or advocated by the flag-bearer in their use of the flag for other purposes.

At eleven that night, after back-to-back fourteen-hour days of competition—ten events, draining humidity, evening chill, rain delays, unbearable tension, and the accumulation of an Olympic record—Rafer Johnson left the Stadio Olimpico for the last time, retracing the steps he had taken nearly two weeks earlier as the captain and flag-bearer for the U.S. Olympic team.